Opening Thoughts As a kid, from a place where there are two religions in my family, i didn’t know what was right for me. I didn’t know which one to choose. A choice that a kid can not make, a choice that even a mature adult can not make. These are very difficult choices to make, and can change your entire life. Sometimes there are choices that are not as hard, but still life changing. Some choices can shape your life. In some countries religion and choice making is put together, and it can make things even harder, than when religion choices and life choices are individual choices. That is why we will explore “How does religion help people make better choices?”. The two religion we will explore are, Buddhism and Hinduism. It’s a different world, when something you don’t know has and explains things you never knew before. Buddhism
Quotes “To get something, you need to put in effort. If you keep hoping for things to happen miraculously then you are doing nothing but dreaming. The world will not give a damn about you, if you do not give a damn about putting effort.This is an eternal rule of cause and effect. If you do not love yourself, the world will not love you. If you do not put in effort on yourself, the world will not reward you. Therefore, we have to make decisions and choices all the time. In between choices, there will always be something to gain and there will always be something to lose. This is the law of equilibrium. The common sense is, if there’s all to gain but nothing to lose, then it is no longer called a choice – It will only merely be selection.”
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” - Dalai Lama XIV Analysis To make a choice means you win or gain something, but by that win or gain you also lose something else. Like Dalai Lama explained, choices should not be choices, if you work hard to get what you want. If you have set a target, and that is what you are focusing on, then that choice that you need to make, is not a choice anymore, but something you select. The question we are exploring is, “How does religion help people make better choices?”, and Buddhism shows it very clearly. If you work hard and put all your effort into something, than there is no choice to be made, but a win/gain that you have worked really hard for. For example, when an overweight person goes to the gym, and dedicates all his/her time to the target they have set, which is to lose weight, than they are not losing anything by that target, because they are putting all their effort and dedication into what they desire, so that target is no longer a choice, but a selection. Quote “What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.” - Dr. William Glasser Analysis As said before, to make a better choice or a selection you need to put all your effort into one thing and set a target for yourself. Like the quote states, the past choices have affected our present, and our present choices will affect our future. For that target that you set and dedicate yourself to it, that is when your present and your future become what you want, and not a choice. In Buddhism dedication and effort is a strong belief, because it can shape your life. Those target you set, and then you hit, they are not something that are affecting you, but you are shaping and affecting them. You become the leader, and choices are not controlling you, but you are choosing what you want out of life, and out of your targets that you have hit. Choices may affect lives of everyone, but not if you control the choices.
Hinduism
Quote “The purpose of life in Hinduism is thus to minimize bad karma in order to enjoy better fortune in this life and achieve a better rebirth in the next.” Analysis Karma is a two way street as said by many people around the globe. Whatever you give, that is what you will get back. If good is given, then good you will receive. Giving and receiving brings us back to choices made in life, and how they shape your life. Karma is one of them. Karma teaches as said above, good you give, good you will receive. So that is a choice made by someone and not magic. If someone decides that he/she will give and do good, than that’s a choice they made. Because of Karma they receive what they gave or did, in a different form, but still good. It’s the same thing if someone does or gives a bad thing. Hinduism makes sure in my opinion, that you should think before making a choice, and that choice should be thought and chosen carefully, because Karma will always affect your choices and decisions. Quote “The self-controlled person, moving among objects, with his senses free from attachment and malevolence and brought under his own control, attains tranquility.” - Bhagavad Gita II.64
Analysis A person has his/her own mindset, and nobody else can control it but them. It is also the same reason why only one person can control and stabilize, what he/she has done wrong, and that is themselves. Each individual in this world is responsible for their own actions, and their own choices they have made in the past. For a choice to be made it’s very easy, but to make the right choice is the opposite. To make the right choice the mindset of a person needs to be right, and not distracted by other things. The person needs to know what is surrounding them. The right choice can be made, and as said before Karma will reward you for the good or bad. The reward can be sweet or bitter, but that is why, the mind needs to be set right before making a decision.
Final Thoughts Through out the world there are dislikes and hatred between religions. People fight wars, and thousands of brave men and women die. The die to protect what they believe in. Those wars are costing innocent lives, because religions are not very different from each other. As explored during this writing, Buddhism and Hinduism both had very similar thoughts on the same subject. That subject is choices for a better life. It is all we explored, but i know that if more is explored about different religions, the more we will find out that they all are very similar. One day through education and hard work, hopefully that is realized, and peace surrounds all religions.
As a kid, from a place where there are two religions in my family, i didn’t know what was right for me. I didn’t know which one to choose. A choice that a kid can not make, a choice that even a mature adult can not make. These are very difficult choices to make, and can change your entire life. Sometimes there are choices that are not as hard, but still life changing. Some choices can shape your life. In some countries religion and choice making is put together, and it can make things even harder, than when religion choices and life choices are individual choices. That is why we will explore “How does religion help people make better choices?”. The two religion we will explore are, Buddhism and Hinduism. It’s a different world, when something you don’t know has and explains things you never knew before.
Buddhism
Quotes
“To get something, you need to put in effort. If you keep hoping for things to happen miraculously then you are doing nothing but dreaming. The world will not give a damn about you, if you do not give a damn about putting effort.This is an eternal rule of cause and effect. If you do not love yourself, the world will not love you. If you do not put in effort on yourself, the world will not reward you. Therefore, we have to make decisions and choices all the time. In between choices, there will always be something to gain and there will always be something to lose. This is the law of equilibrium. The common sense is, if there’s all to gain but nothing to lose, then it is no longer called a choice – It will only merely be selection.”
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” - Dalai Lama XIV
Analysis
To make a choice means you win or gain something, but by that win or gain you also lose something else. Like Dalai Lama explained, choices should not be choices, if you work hard to get what you want. If you have set a target, and that is what you are focusing on, then that choice that you need to make, is not a choice anymore, but something you select. The question we are exploring is, “How does religion help people make better choices?”, and Buddhism shows it very clearly. If you work hard and put all your effort into something, than there is no choice to be made, but a win/gain that you have worked really hard for. For example, when an overweight person goes to the gym, and dedicates all his/her time to the target they have set, which is to lose weight, than they are not losing anything by that target, because they are putting all their effort and dedication into what they desire, so that target is no longer a choice, but a selection.
Quote
“What happened in the past has everything to do with what we are today, but we can only satisfy our basic needs right now and plan to continue satisfying them in the future.” - Dr. William Glasser
Analysis
As said before, to make a better choice or a selection you need to put all your effort into one thing and set a target for yourself. Like the quote states, the past choices have affected our present, and our present choices will affect our future. For that target that you set and dedicate yourself to it, that is when your present and your future become what you want, and not a choice. In Buddhism dedication and effort is a strong belief, because it can shape your life. Those target you set, and then you hit, they are not something that are affecting you, but you are shaping and affecting them. You become the leader, and choices are not controlling you, but you are choosing what you want out of life, and out of your targets that you have hit. Choices may affect lives of everyone, but not if you control the choices.
Hinduism
Quote
“The purpose of life in Hinduism is thus to minimize bad karma in order to enjoy better fortune in this life and achieve a better rebirth in the next.”
Analysis
Karma is a two way street as said by many people around the globe. Whatever you give, that is what you will get back. If good is given, then good you will receive. Giving and receiving brings us back to choices made in life, and how they shape your life. Karma is one of them. Karma teaches as said above, good you give, good you will receive. So that is a choice made by someone and not magic. If someone decides that he/she will give and do good, than that’s a choice they made. Because of Karma they receive what they gave or did, in a different form, but still good. It’s the same thing if someone does or gives a bad thing. Hinduism makes sure in my opinion, that you should think before making a choice, and that choice should be thought and chosen carefully, because Karma will always affect your choices and decisions.
Quote
“The self-controlled person, moving among objects, with his senses free from attachment and malevolence and brought under his own control, attains tranquility.” - Bhagavad Gita II.64
Analysis
A person has his/her own mindset, and nobody else can control it but them. It is also the same reason why only one person can control and stabilize, what he/she has done wrong, and that is themselves. Each individual in this world is responsible for their own actions, and their own choices they have made in the past. For a choice to be made it’s very easy, but to make the right choice is the opposite. To make the right choice the mindset of a person needs to be right, and not distracted by other things. The person needs to know what is surrounding them. The right choice can be made, and as said before Karma will reward you for the good or bad. The reward can be sweet or bitter, but that is why, the mind needs to be set right before making a decision.
Final Thoughts
Through out the world there are dislikes and hatred between religions. People fight wars, and thousands of brave men and women die. The die to protect what they believe in. Those wars are costing innocent lives, because religions are not very different from each other. As explored during this writing, Buddhism and Hinduism both had very similar thoughts on the same subject. That subject is choices for a better life. It is all we explored, but i know that if more is explored about different religions, the more we will find out that they all are very similar. One day through education and hard work, hopefully that is realized, and peace surrounds all religions.
Sources in Order